"Oh?"
Haimer stepped over the threshold, his gaze settling on the petite figure kneeling within the column of sunlight. It was obvious from her posture that she had been waiting for quite some time, and a trace of approval flickered through his eyes.
"So you knew I was coming?"
He did not waste words. Without preamble, he walked straight toward the center of the gymnasium.
"Yes, Lord God."
Tsukuyo inclined her head slightly and offered a flawless, traditional bow.
The title alone was enough to stir reactions.
Amou, standing behind Haimer, raised an eyebrow ever so slightly.
At the doorway, Rin and Mozunono, who had just caught up, still breathless, froze where they stood.
"Lord God?"
They clutched the doorframe, disbelief written plainly across their faces.
"You know who I am?"
Haimer paid no attention to the commotion behind him. Instead, he regarded Tsukuyo with quiet interest.
"No. I do not know your name, my lord."
She shook her head gently.
"But I can hear."
"Hear?"
"Yes."
She lightly touched her ear.
"From the moment you descended, the sound of the entire academy changed."
"The wind no longer flowed. The birds fell silent. Even the dust suspended in the air trembled."
"It was the instinctive submission of all things before an absolute superior."
"And…"
"I heard you defeat the Empress. I heard you take Mozunono's baton and shatter Onigawara Rin's mask."
"I heard it all, clearly."
As she calmly recounted the details of the earlier battle in the teaching building, Amou watched from the side, her expression cool and her brow faintly furrowed. She clearly disapproved of such methods.
Yet beneath that disdain, something heavier lingered in her dark eyes.
This was the old gymnasium.
The straight-line distance to the teaching building was at least several hundred meters. Between them stood walls, trees, and the constant noise of academy life.
And yet she had not only heard it, she had reconstructed every moment of the fight with precision, even identifying the weapon's material and the exact point of impact.
To have someone hidden in the dark listening to your every move while you knew nothing of them,
For someone like Amou, who was accustomed to control, it was deeply unpleasant.
That rabbit's ears were as irritatingly sharp as ever.
…
"Impressive."
Haimer stopped five steps away from Tsukuyo and applauded lightly, offering praise without restraint.
"To reconstruct an entire battle from such distance using hearing alone…"
"Such auditory acuity would be rare even in Orario, a place where monsters run rampant."
There was no attempt to conceal his admiration.
To a god, a mortal's worth was never singular.
Strength, magical power, those were merely crude metrics.
This unique way of perceiving the world, this ability to extract crucial information from a sea of noise,
Its value far surpassed simple destructive capability.
One might even say this talent was tailor-made for the Dungeon, a place shrouded in fog, riddled with traps, and rife with sudden danger.
"You overpraise me, Lord God."
Tsukuyo lowered her head. Silver-white hair slipped along her cheek, veiling half her face.
"I lost the light. I survived in darkness. What I possess is nothing more than a small skill honed out of necessity."
"If such a trivial trick earns your commendation…"
"I am deeply unworthy."
She paused, then continued.
"However, I do have one question."
"You came all the way to this secluded place…"
"Was it for me?"
Though her red eyes held no focus, a faint thread of confusion ran through her voice.
It was a reasonable doubt.
Why would a god of such overwhelming power, one who could even subdue the proud Empress, seek out someone like her, a flawed girl who possessed nothing but swordsmanship?
Haimer's answer came without hesitation.
"Yes."
"I came for you, Miss Inaba Tsukuyo."
"I require your sword."
"Or more precisely, "
"I require you to become my family."
"Family?"
The word lingered in the air.
Even though she tried to remain composed, the directness of it struck her squarely.
A faint blush spread across her porcelain-like cheeks.
No matter how mature she appeared, how detached and refined,
She was still, in the end, a teenage girl.
To hear such earnest, unvarnished words from a god, words that carried unmistakable sincerity and even a hint of exclusivity.
That quiet, youthful shyness inevitably slipped through the cracks of her dignified façade.
"Family…"
She repeated it softly.
Though embarrassed, she could feel his gaze upon her, warm and unwavering.
To someone accustomed to reverence or distance, that kind of gaze was unfamiliar.
"Since you speak so frankly, Lord God…"
"Then I shall not maintain pretense either."
"Still… there is something I wish to know."
"You have gone to such lengths to descend into this world…"
"What is the world you speak of truly like?"
She lifted her head once more. Though she could not see, her unfocused red eyes aligned unerringly with Haimer.
It was not only her question.
Amou Kirukiru, Onigawara Rin, and Mozunono all listened closely.
"That world…"
"If you wish to understand it," Haimer began evenly, "then first you must understand something."
"For gods with infinite lifespans, what is the deadliest poison?"
"It is monotony."
"Unchanging eternity is the greatest toxin."
"In the heavens, we have existed for billions upon billions of years."
"Day after day. Year after year."
"As time passed, eternal life began to resemble a suffocating torment."
"So suffocating that some gods sought amusement in suicide."
"For us, death is merely a slumber lasting ten thousand years."
"Others, driven mad by stagnation, began annihilating fellow gods for fleeting entertainment."
"Though most do not condone such behavior, it proves one thing."
"The gods of heaven have encountered an enemy they cannot overcome."
Silence fell.
Gods… bored?
Driven to madness by eternity?
The notion shattered everything they thought they knew.
Haimer continued calmly.
"So we made a decision."
"To seek the unknown. To fill the void of eternity."
"We allowed gods to leave the stagnant heavens and descend to the lower world."
"The world I have spoken of."
"There, we bind ourselves to rules. We may not use divine power. We must live as mortals."
"We can even be intoxicated by wine brewed by human hands."
"And in return…"
"We grant our chosen children a gift, called a Blessing."
"With it, they become our Familia, unlocking the shackles upon their potential."
"They descend into the Dungeon, the abyss that is the source of monsters across the continent."
"They fight. They harvest magic stones. They gather materials."
"They exchange blood and danger for wealth, renown, and growth."
"And we…"
"We sit in the audience and witness the epics of those we have chosen, friendship, courage, growth, betrayal, love, hatred."
"You may wonder why gods would become enamored with such mortal games."
"The answer is simple."
"Because life is uncertain."
In the heavens, everything is known, fully known.
Like watching a film whose ending has been spoiled a thousand times.
But in the lower world.
From the very beginning.
Life was born as a miracle, a defiance of the universe's ultimate law:
Entropy.
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